Weft needle or carrier for shuttleless looms



y 1932- G. TOMKINSON ET AL 1,355,119

WEFT NEEDLE OR CARRIER FOR SHUTTLELESS LOOMS Filed April 5, 1930 latentecl May 3, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GERALD TOMKIN SON, OFHEATHFIELD, WULVERLEY, NEAR KIDDERMINSTER, AND ERNEST JOSEPH PERRY, OFBIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND WEFT NEEDLE R CARRIER FOR SHUTTLYELESS LOOMSApplication filed April 5, 1930, Serial No. 441,754, and in. GreatBritain December 18, 1929.

This invention has reference to shuttleless looms of the kind in whichthe weft needle or carrier is operated within the warp shed by means ofa flexible extension or attachment such as an elongated steel blade orband, the invention being particularly applicable to looms of this kindfor weaving carpets and like pile fabrics of considerable width, andhaving for its primary object to 1 provide for a particularlysatisfactory disposition or location of such flexible extension orattachment when the needle or carrier is in its retracted position.

As an example of a loom of a type suitable in to have t1 e present weftinserting needle mechanism embodied therein, attention is invited to theloom disclosed in British Patout 22,601 of 1898 and the corresponding-U. S. Patent 65%,363 dated July 24, 1900.

The invention consists primarily in a weft needle or carrier, for use inshuttleless looms of the kind referred to, wherein the flexible needleextension or attachment is slidably accommodated within an elongatedstationary guide of rigid construction having adjacent the warp shed anarcuate part which is adapted to deflect said extension or attachmentout of and into its normal horizontal line of traverse through the warpshed. ac Preferably the guide has its outer part disposed vertically orsubstantially vertically and is of such a length as to accommodate thewhole or the major part of the flexible needle extension or attachmentwhen the latter is retract-ed from the warp shed. The invention consistsfurther in an arrangement wherein the guide is of a substantially Cformation in cross section, having inturned longitudinal edges embracingopposite edges of a blade or band constituting the flexible and slidableneedle extension or attachment. The invention consists still further inan arrangement, applicable to a two-needle loom, wherein a faciallysuperposed pair of flexible needle extension or attachment blades orbands are slidably accommodated within this (3 section guide. Theflexible needle extension or attachment may be operated for thereciprocative traverse of the needle by at at taclnnent to a. cable orthe like passing over a pair of upper and lower pulleys one of which isappropriately geared to the loom for oscillatory rotation, or theflexible needle extension or attachment may alternatively be operated byattachment to a driving chain or to one of a geared series of drivingchains. in order that the invention may be clearly raider-stood andreadily carried into practice, reference may be had to the appendedexplanatory drawings, upon whichz- Figure 1 is a front elevation, inmore or less diagrammatic form, of a weft needle or carrier and anoperating mechanism therefor in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the weft needle or carrierand its flexible extension or attachment and fixed guide as shown inFigure 1, the parts being disassembled for facility of illustration.

Figure 3 is a cross-section of the fixed guide and flexible needleextension or attachment as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure l is a cross-section showing a fixed guide of solid castformation.

Figure 5 is a cross-section showing a fixed guide of solid built-upconstruction.

Figure 6 is a cross-section of a fixed guide as adapted for a two-needleloom.

In one method of carrying the invention into effect, a substantiallyrigid weft needle or carrier (6 of relatively short length is provideclwith a flexible extension or attachment in the form of a spring steelblade or band I), of a length somewhat greater than the width of thecarpet or fabric to be woven, this blade or band 5 being so manufacturedas to nor mally assume and maintain a straight formation. At its endadjacent the weft needle or carrier at this flexible band 6 passes intoand through a fixed guide 0 which towards its inner end has a straightgroove 0 and is then continued in arcuate formation as shown at 0 so asto project outwardly and upwardly in transverse alignment with the warpshed, and which at its outer end is further continued in upstandingrelation to the loom, preferably in a vertical or substantially verticaldirection as shown at 0 or if desired at an appropriate inclination tothe vertical as shown in dotted lines at c, this upstanding continuationof the guide 0 being of such a length that the whole or the major partof tlie flexible blade or band Z) when withdrawn ffom the warp shed maybe accommodated within the guide. The guide a is preferably formed froma one-piece metal strip or sheet so as to be of C formation incross-section (Figures 1 to 3) having inturned longitudinal elges cembracing opposite sides of the blade or band 6, the arrangement beingsuch as to permit of a free sliding movement of the blade or band 6within the guide. Alternatively the guide 0 may be ofsectionalconstruction, the arcuate inner and lower part being either ofgrooved and channelled solid cast formation (Figure 4) or of a solidbuiltup grooved construction (Figure 5), and the upstanding straightupper part c or 0 consisting for example of a pair of flat strips orbars disposed in facially opposed parallel relation at a slight spacingso as to permit of a free sliding movement of the blade or band, orbeing alternatively of the aforesaid C-shaped open channel formationlikewise adapted to permit of a free sliding movement of the blade orband 6.

The flexible blade or band I) is attached, at a point adjacent its upperand outer extremity, to an endless driving cable (Z or the like passedover a pair of upper and lower drums or pulleys e and f, the attachmentbeing effected by means of a U-shaped clamp g or other fastening, andthe lower drum or pulley f being geared to an appropriate part of r theloom, for example by a rack h and pinion z in association with a crank jand connecting-rod 7c, the arrangement being such as to provide for anoscillatory rotation of the drums or pulleys e f, to thereby slide theflexible blade or band b in alternately opposite directions within itsfixed'guide c for effecting the reciprocative movement of the weftneedle or carrier a through the warp shed. Alternatively the slidingreciprocative movement of the flexible blade or band may be effected bysimilar attachment to a driving chain or to one of a geared series ofdriving chains, or this movement of the flexible blade or band may becontrolled by any other convenient means.

It will be seen that the flexible band extension or attachment Z) forthe weft needle or carrier a, located vertically or substantiallyvertically as described, enables the loom to operate in a limited floorspace approximating to that required for a shuttle type of loom, and itwill further be seen that the fixed guide 0 effectively restrains theflexible blade or band against any tendency to displacement ordistortion during either the outward or the inward movement, therebyensuring a particularly uniform and reliable movement of the weft needleor carrier a during the whole of its reciprocating traverse through thewarp shed. Inthis connection it is pointquired to maintain the needle ina straight,

horizontal position when the same is projected.

It will also be appreciated that the invention can be readily adaptedand applied to shuttleless looms having two or more weft needles orcarriers, for example by slidably accommodating two flexible blades orbands I) (Figure 6) in facial contact within a single fixed guide of theC section hereinbefore described, or by arranging two or more flexibleblades or hands in parallel adjacent relation so as to be operated by acommon driving mechanismbut each slidable'in a separate fixed guide. 7

We claim V v 1. A weft inserting mechanism for shuttleless loomscomprising a needle element inclusive of a stiff needle portion properand a flexible blade extension thereof, an elongated continuous guidemember within which the flexible blade portion of the needle islongitudinally slidable, said guide member embracing the flexible bladeportion of the needle and all parts of said guide member beingstationarily mounted whereby the blade portion of the needle within theguide member is held against all deflection except such deflection asmay be due to the shape of the guide member, a portion of said guidemember being disposed in the plane of the normal line of traverse of theneedle portion proper, another portion of said guide member beingdisalined with respect to said first mentioned portion and beingconnected therewith by a curved portion, and means entirely separatefrom the guide member connected with the flexible blade portion of theneedle for recip rocating the same thereby to reciprocate the needleportion proper, the curved portion of the guide member servingduringreciprocation of the needle to deflect the flexible bladeextension thereof into and out of the normal line of traverse of theneedle.

2. A weft inserting mechanism as set forth in claim 1 in which the guidemember'is of C-shaped cross section and in which the connection betwenthe flexible blade portion of the needle and its reciprocating meansoperates in the slot between the edges of the guide

